New year, new phone?

Due to changes in technology, some users of WhatsApp may have to get newer mobile phones if they want to continue using the messaging app, according to the Daily Mail.

The Facebook-owned app said it was due to older smartphone platforms being unable to handle the latest features being rolled out.

The popular app has over a billion users globally, and the changes are expected to affect millions of them who use older phones such as iPhone 3GS and Windows Phone 7.

In February last year, WhatsApp said that it will be ending support for the app on older Windows, Android and Apple models starting this month. For Blackberry and Nokia models, it will last until June 30 this year.

The app was set up in 2009 by former Yahoo employees Jan Koum and Brian Acton in Canada, and as it celebrated its seventh anniversary, the company said: "As we look ahead to our next seven years, we want to focus our efforts on the mobile platforms the vast majority of people use."

It added that it was a "tough decision" but the "right one" to help people better keep in touch with loved ones.

The platforms on which WhatsApp will not work any more are Android 2.1 and Android 2.2, Windows Phone 7 and iPhone 3GS/iOS 6. By June this year, it will also be unavailable for BlackBerry OS, BlackBerry 10, Nokia S40 and Nokia Symbian S60.